HOME AIR COMPRESSORS

[bldn10]

W/ Christmas coming up there will be plenty of sales on home air compressors and I may be tempted to ask Santa for one. How much capacity, hp, and pressure do you need to operate basic air tools and/or a paint gun? Yea, I know I should only get one the size of the "Little Boy" A-bomb but I have no room for that. What is the smallest that will reasonably work?

[CaptainWho]

My is 11 gallon, 4.5 HP, 110V, 125 psi. It'll drive an impact wrench or air ratchet or air chisel no problem. I haven't tried a paint gun, but from the SCFM rating I don't think mine is strong enough to keep up with one.

[tom_sprecher]

Compare the SCFM rating of the highest consumption air tool (disc sanders, sand blaster, die grinder, etc.) you plan to use to the compressor you are interested in.

Impact and paint guns do not use all that much.

Mine is a 16 year old IR w/a 60 gal tank and 5HP that will deliver 11 SCFM. It'll run a 100# sandblaster all day (if you can handle doing that all day)! :ph34r:

[Eric Parham]

I have a 6HP/33gal 220V that ran everything, including die grinders and various spray guns, fairly well. Occasionally wished I had more, but it wasn't bad. It lost compression last year so I've been using a 4HP/13gal 110V as backup. It works fine for everything except the die grinder. The biggest difference that I've noticed is that my electric bill seems to be a lot higher. At first I thought it was just the Utility company jacking the price, but it turns out that my usage is also up. I have a theory that we get charged per KW hour based on 220V, so if we only use 110V we might be getting double charged (which was roughly my increase in usage). I should check with a good electrician to see if I'm right, but my guess is that one should always go for a 220V compressor for at least this reason.

[tom91ita]

pay attention to the size breaker that feeds your garage as well.

i've been too lazy to rewire my garage and it only has a 15 amp breaker feeding it. when it gets below 40°F in the garage, i plug in a small heater for 10 minutes to warm up the oil and crank area of the compressor to get the thing to start without tripping the breaker.

many newer homes in subdivisions apparently do not have much in the way of power to the garage. i did find an independent power source to the freezer in the garage but it is not that easy to get from the far end of the basement to the far end of the garage with finished areas, etc., etc.

no 220 in this garage either. maybe this winter.......

[JamesB]

My 60 Gallon 7hp 220 rocks, I can run griders, sanders and impacts at the same time.

[BobsAuto]

Having had our share of compressors and doing our share of painting.....read the fine print carefully on a compressor. The bigger the better. Had a Husky 30 gal., 180 psi 12hp and it would not hold up to the task. It lasted just a year and had no more than 16 hours on it. We bought it from Home Depot with the extended warranty and they told us they would not replace it because we used ratchets, sanders, etc. (The very things that came with the bonus package). Seriously, you must go with the midrange on up. If you actually spend less than $260 for one, I doubt it'll do the trick. Good luck with Santa.... :D

[bldn10]

So, what is this one on sale at Sears for $100 good for?

CRAFTSMAN Portable 3 gallon compressor. It develops 1.5 HP maximum, 125 PSI. It delivers 2.4 CFM @ 90 PSI and 3.75 CFM @ 40 PSI. This COMPRESSOR HAS A THREE STAR (***) rating meaning it will operate the majority of air tools, including DIE GRINDERS, CUT-OFF TOOLS, DRILLS, SANDERS, HVLP SPRAY GUNS, 1/2" IMPACT WRENCH, RATCHETS, AIR HAMMERS, ENGINE CLEANERS,NAILERS, STAPLERS, BLUE GUNS, CAULK GUNS, AIR BRUSH, AND MANY MORE.

For that money if it would inflate my trailer tires to 50# in a timely manner, provide compressed air for cleaning, and power an HVLP spray gun, it would be worth it.

[tom_sprecher]

The above compressor will not properly run the tools listed for any length of time. For example; die grinder - 4 CFM @ 90 psi, 1/2" impact - 5 CFM @90 psi, DA sander - 8 CFM @ 90 psi, spray gun - 4 CFM @ 40 psi.

It will fill your tires and may run tools that are intermittent in operation like staplers and nailers.